ISTE 2017: Earshot Helps Teachers With The Way They Talk To Students

Seattle EdTech Startup Earshot, Helps Teachers With The Way They Talk To Students

There are a lot of technology tools out there for teachers these days. That’s why this year’s exhibit hall at ISTE 2017 is the biggest one yet. There are a lot of apps and tools that help with instruction. Think interaction, content creation, curriculum, PBL, those kinds of things. But how often have you thought about the way teachers actually talk to students, one on one and in classroom discussions?

Amy Satin Spinelli and her team of educators turned entrepreneurs have created a teaching tool that helps analyze the way teachers talk to students. Is your tone as a teacher prompting students to not interact? Or are they interacting more. There are hundreds of pages of tips on how to talk to students in classroom settings across the world wide web, but there hasn’t been a tool for teachers to self analyze how they are actually communicating.

Until Now.

A Seattle based startup called, Earshot, is creating an app that will allow teachers to analyze how they actually communicate with their students.

“Earshot uses voice analysis and machine learning to automate analysis of questions and discussion, providing teachers at all levels, from kindergarten through higher education, with useful data about communication in their classrooms.” the company says on their website.

The app analyzes talk time, wait time and question patterns then gives feedback to teachers so they can improve their communication. Teachers can then upload their recordings to be analyzed by Earshot.

“Like a fitness tracker measures progress towards fitness goals, Earshot guides teachers to reach their instructional goals. Small modifications in teacher behavior add up to big gains in student mastery of critical thinking and communications skills.” Satin Spinelli said in a statement.

Earshot is in the AT&T Aspire Accelerator, an accelerator strictly focusing on edtech. Aspire invests $100,000 in each of their accelerator startups and provides another $25,000 to help startups with expenses.

You can find AT&T Aspire and Ear Shot at ISTE 2017, in the Startup Pavilion, booth 2132. You can also find Earshot online at theearshotapp.com